Sunday, November 24, 2013

A Week of Thanks: An Old-Fashioned Carrot Pull

Rich organic soil yields plentiful sweet carrots.

One of the things I am most thankful for is our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Siena Farm. This year "our farmer" Chris was able to purchase 26 acres of land in Sudbury, Massachusetts to be conserved in perpetuity. This is not the kind of community "development" that typical banks support. Instead the money to purchase the land came from fundraising dinners, generous supporters and CSA members.

Farmer Chris walks beside the tractor that loosens the soil for easy pulling.

Our family has purchased 3 full-year shares up front to help fund the sale. We will get 48 weekly boxes per year from now until the spring of 2017. I feel like I've gotten a bargain. Instead of our money sitting in the bank hardly keeping up with inflation, we have secured 3 years of food security and wonderful health.

D takes the greens off the carrots before putting them in the bin.

This weekend CSA members were invited to help pull a huge
field of carrots before today's hard frost. Between 10am and 4pm, nearly
100 members of all ages put in some time to fill storage bins
throughout the field.

filled bins in alternating rows

It was wonderful getting into the field and putting our hands in the soft, rich soil. We pulled up carrots by the dozen, ripped off their green tops, wiped off the rich dirt and filled bin after bin with carrots up to 2 inches in diameter.

J drops another carrot into his almost-full bin.

R and her friend laughed the day away.

Our family filled at least 8 bins and were rewarded with a few bags for our own winter stores.

On our way home with a golden bounty.

So far we've been eating carrot sticks with every meal. And a few big carrots went into tonight's vegetarian chili. I make a great carrot and cheddar gratin. I'm sure I'll be posting more terrific carrot recipes soon.

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"Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do."

Wendell Berry

"When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money."

Alanis Obomsawin, Native American of the Abenaki Tribe, north of Montreal